Canada’s gun laws are certainly more tyrannical than those in the United States. At least in the United States when a gun is added to the verboten list current owners are generally grandfathered in. In Canada if a gun is approved for purchase by the peasantry and the government later changes its mind you don’t get the privilege of being grandfathered in, instead you become a criminal in possession of an illegal firearm:
Two small-calibre rifles have been suddenly reclassified by the RCMP-run Canadian Firearms Program. The rifles in question, the Armi Jager AP-80 and the Walther G22, are both unremarkable .22-caliber long guns. While any firearm is dangerous, .22-caliber firearms are among the weakest around — indeed, they’re typically used to train rookie shooters basic firearm safety and operation.
Canadian law divides firearms into three categories, using complex technical criterion and a bevy of politically-motivated “exemptions”, and citizens can only legally own firearms in the categories their licence covers. No further licences are issued for the third and highest category, prohibited. By declaring a new exemption and moving these rifles from the non-restricted list — the category subject to the least controls — to the prohibited list, the RCMP has essentially banned them for all but a constantly shrinking group of Canadians who owned prohibited-class firearms before the current gun control legislation was passed under Jean Chrétien.
That’s bad. This is worse: Any citizen who already owns an AP-80 or G22, and does not already possess a rare prohibited-class licence, has been ordered to turn in their rifles within 30 days. Failure to do so will mean they are unlawfully in possession of a prohibited firearm, and subject to as much as 10 years behind bars. It doesn’t matter if they purchased it legally, paid all the sales taxes, and have stored it safely ever since. The RCMP has declared that it was a mistake to allow citizens to purchase these firearms, and wants them turned in, pronto. Or else.
Emphasis mine. Even though the Canadian government made the “mistake” (how allowing people to own any time of firearm is a mistake is beyond my understanding) the people who legally purchased the now verboten firearms will be the ones punished. What’s worse is it doesn’t sound like those who purchased these now blacklisted firearms will even be compensated:
No apology for the error. No mention of monetary compensation. No exemptions made for people who already owned them. Just an order to hand them over or become a criminal.
In other words you purchased it legally according to Canadian law and now you have to surrender it because you were dumb enough to follow the law. What makes this even worse is the fact Canada has a long-gun registry so the government goons know who owns what type of firearm and therefore know what doors to kick down in their eventual search for these horrible .22 carbines. At least in the United States were something like this to happen the government can’t be 100% sure who owns what. Registration leads to confiscation every time.
I’m sure this is what the anti-gunners mean by common sense gun laws, if a person acts within the letter of the law they can be punished at a later time for doing so. It would seem the only safe option in Canada is to not own any firearms, which is exactly what the state wants.
I am glad I live in America where the liberals haven’t succeeded in disarming Americans like yours have succeeded in disarming you. When the populace poses no risk to the the aristocracy, there is nothing they cant do to you.